PLANO, Texas (AP) -- Jerry and Deborah Alciatore fled New Orleans with nothing but a couple of overnight bags, an ice chest and their credit cards. The bags emptied quickly, but two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, the balance on the credit cards is mounting fast.
Their first week on the road, they charged $1,600 in food and hotel bills in Houston, about $400 worth of clothing, mostly from discount stores, and a couple hundred more on gasoline.
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The Consumer Federation of America and other groups are lobbying Congress to delay the new bankruptcy law, which they opposed all along. A delay would help Katrina victims file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection under the old law, making it easier for them to wipe out most kinds of debt rather than set up a 3- or 5-year repayment plan.
"They turned the bankruptcy courts into collection agencies for credit card companies. That means there's less protection for victims of Katrina," said Elizabeth Warren, a bankruptcy law professor at Harvard and a critic of the new law.
The American Bankers Association is opposed to delaying the new law. Floyd Stoner, the group's executive director for congressional relations, said creditors and bankruptcy judges will treat hurricane victims sympathetically.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/14/katrina.credit.ap/index.html
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